Simple loop train tracks work great for young children and accents around the Christmas tree. Excitement lies in layout designs, era themes, and expansion. This can be an expensive hobby, demanding a generous amount of space.
Start with a 4x8 sheet of plywood (allows space for model train buildings, streets, and scenery). Depending on the basic train track layout you choose, you will need sections of curved and straight track and thumbtacks to secure the track to plywood.
Wired for Success
Rails are extensions of the power-pack wiring. Joints cause minor resistance and power decreases a distance from the feeder wires - additional wiring can be added by using doorbell wire (two jacket colors help track negative and positive wires). Soldering can be complicated. An alternative is to purchase pre-wired rail joiners. Connecting wires between the power pack and rails enables the direct current. The outside rail is a positive charge, the inside rail is negative. Basic wiring layout must remain the same to avoid short-circuiting.
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Avoid doubling wires on power-pack terminals. Use an eight-place terminal block to connect wires. Loop wire from the first terminal screw of the positive half of the board to the next; repeat for the negative wires. In a few hours of prep time, you will be ready to add toy trains and scenery and be the engineer of your own model train set.
Expanding horizons
You can take this basic plan to an extended level by adding turnabouts and additional train track to create passing sides and yard areas. Additional train track allows one model train to interchange with another. Scenic dividers separate the scene of one side of the model train railroad from the scene on the other side of the railroad.
Further upgrades of interchange train track can be turned into wye turnouts which allow a model train entering in one direction to exit and run in the opposite direction through the basic layout.
